20 Complete Series You Can Marathon Over The Holiday Weekend

It’s Christmas weekend, which means you have ample time to do some serious Netflix Instant watching.

Minor Commitments

Start one of these up, take a break for Christmas ham, and you’ll still be able to finish the series before the food coma kicks in.

1. Running Wilde

It’s not quite Arrested Development, but Running Wilde did reunite Will Arnett and David Cross. And if you’re feeling Felicity withdrawal, Keri Russell stars as Arnett’s love interest Emmy.

Total Time: 4.5 hours

2. Sordid Lives

If you’re gay or just gay-sensible, you’ll appreciate Sordid Lives, a campy sitcom follow-up to the film of the same name. Stars LGBT icons Rue McClanahan and Caroline Rhea, among others.

Total Time: 6 hours

3. The 10th Kingdom

This one’s kind of cheating: The 10th Kingdom was a miniseries. But this modern-day fairy tale mash-up is way better than ABC’s Once Upon a Time, which you can also stream.

Total Time: 7 hours

4. The Inbetweeners

British series like The Inbetweeners are great because they have a limited run, which makes them easier to digest — and harder to get sick of. Check this out if you like awkward adolescents.

Total Time: 7.5 hours

A Full Day’s Work

You might need to take your meals on the couch, but think of the satisfaction you’ll feel when you complete these series in one butt-numbing sitting.

5. Better Off Ted

Often on lists of “brilliant but canceled” series, Better Off Ted is a hilarious send-up of soul-sucking corporate life. Bonus: your comedy nerd friends will appreciate your obscure references.

Total Time: 9 hours

6. Kidnapped

Season-long mysteries are hit-or-miss, but Kidnapped got it right, perhaps because it never had time to screw it up. Ah, well: at least you know you’ll get a satisfying conclusion.

Total Time: 9 hours

7. Terra Nova

Dinosaurs, you guys! And a whole lot of mistakes. Terra Nova was kind of a mess from the start, but it’s still an interesting experiment, and at only 11 episodes, it’s worth checking out.

Total Time: 9.5 hours

8. The Black Donnellys

The Black Donnellys was a good show that never really got its due: over half of the episodes aired online after cancelation. If you like gritty mob dramas, give it more of a chance than NBC did.

Total Time: 10 hours

Losing Some Sleep

At this point, you’re staying up until the wee hours of the morning. It doesn’t matter: you can sleep in tomorrow.

9. The Sarah Silverman Program

Fun, vulgar, and unique, The Sarah Silverman Program is a great way to knock out an entire day on the couch. Also stars Steve Agee and Brian Posehn as one of the best gay couples ever on TV.

Total Time: 12 hours

10. Melrose Place 2.0

Good? No. And yet somehow amazing. The 2009 reboot of Melrose Place was terrible and trashy, which makes it exactly the kind of guilty pleasure you’re looking for on a long weekend.

Total Time: 12.5 hours

11. Caprica

Battlestar Galactica prequel series Caprica never really took off, but it definitely has its moments. And its standalone, so don’t worry if you’ve seen the much longer (and better) show it spawned from.

Total Time: 13 hours

12. Slings & Arrows

Shakespeare, ghosts, and Canada: give in to the charms of Slings & Arrows, especially if you appreciate theater humor. Plus, it stars before-she-was-famous Rachel McAdams.

Total Time: 13.5 hours

Putting in the Long Hours

You could theoretically pull these off in one sitting, but I don’t necessarily recommend it. On the other hand, YOLO?

13. The Riches

Hey, it’s one of those FX series you never got around to watching. The Riches shares its inspiration with Showtime’s Shameless, and it has a great cast, including Eddie Izzard, Minnie Driver, and Shannon Woodward.

Total Time: 15 hours

14. Sports Night

Before The Newsroom, there was Sports Night, the first of Aaron Sorkin’s behind-the-scenes looks at television. Luckily, this one is funny on purpose. Cough, cough, the shows he’s made since then.

Total Time: 16.5 hours

15. Dirty Sexy Money

Or you can get your Peter Krause fix with Dirty Sexy Money, a ridiculously fun show with a ridiculously stupid title. I know how it sounds, but I promise it’s an enjoyable soap about rich people behaving very badly.

Total Time: 16.5 hours

16. Dirt

All the sleaze, with the added bonus of FX-level smut, Dirt stars Courteney Cox as a morally reprehensible tabloid journalist. Yes, this is the show where she kissed Jennifer Aniston.

Total Time: 17 hours

Two Days on the Couch

Screw it. Grab a bucket of ice cream. Put on your Snuggie. You didn’t want to see your family anyway, right?

17. United States of Tara

I’m a big fan of Toni Collette, Diablo Cody, and Showtime half-hour dramedies, so it’s no surprise I’m listing United States of Tara here. If you missed it when it was on the air, give it a try now.

Total Time: 18 hours

18. Dollhouse

Fans of Joss Whedon would do well to check out Dollhouse, assuming they haven’t already. It’s a challenging show at times but well worth it. (Buffy and Angel are also streaming if you have a week to spare.)

Total Time: 19 hours

19. Peep Show

Very funny, very British — if you watch Peep Show, your cool comedy friends will stop bugging you about watching Peep Show. There are seven series (British for “season”), but they’re short.

Total Time: 19 hours

20. Home Movies

I can’t praise Home Movies highly enough: Brendon Small’s animated series is weird and wonderful. You might have seen a few episodes on Adult Swim late at night, but go ahead and mainline the whole thing.

Total Time: 19 hours